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                 The Fires Of Celebration                  
                        -by Archy-                         
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                 The Fires Of Celebration                  
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The Fires Of Celebration
534 years.
534 years since the bombs fell. 534 years of hardship, sweat, toil and tears to rebuild to even a fraction of the civilization of the golden era ponykind had experienced beforehand. The world before the bombs, at least from what the ponies could gleam from stories that had been passed down and scraps of information from the old Ponpaq terminals that still scattered the wasteland. Ah, perhaps some explanation here about what those are and the world as we know it would be useful to you, dear reader, yes?
Many, many years after the reign of Celestia, Twilight, Flurry Heart and a whole host of other monarchs that came and went over hundreds of thousands of solar cycles, ponies became more and more fascinated with technology. Without Celestia and Luna, they had to find a way to raise the sun and the moon which was a major hurdle, initially relying on the magic of many powerful ponies to continue to carry the task out. As time advanced however, magic gave way to technology. It wasn’t long until the unicorns retired their spells and gave way to the gargantuan and compact mechanical devices that were being put together by skilled Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth ponies who were continuing to push forward the boundaries of technology.
As decades and centuries rolled on, it became increasingly apparent that the old ways of a monarchy was no longer something that was quite so important as it once was. Eight generations down from the reign of Celestia, with a heavy heart Princess Saros, the last monarch to rule from Canterlot, gave her throne over to a newly established Equestrian Government. The idea that one pony could no longer rule a whole kingdom and decide the entire fate of the populace had taken hold a few generations ago and the outcry for a democratically elected government was something the long line of princesses could no longer hold off. She finished her days touring the world, helping ponies in need. Without any children of her own, the royal line died with her.
Initially one government was enough, but one government is still one government. Soon small local ones were springing up and declaring independence from Equestria, ponies not satisfied with the slow and often biased decision-making of the central one, merging with other towns and hamlets to strengthen bonds. It wasn’t long until a host of micronations were all in contention under the main Equestrian government for land, resources and other things that their populace desired.
While politics carried on as politics do, ponies still continued to create. As a species Equestrians were always fascinated with creation, and the advent of ever advancing technology just fed that desire. The landscape of Equestria became more and more cluttered as the once rather charming villages and even cities became bloated and fat with inventions. It was around this time eating for pleasure was becoming popular as well with ponies spending time stuffing their faces and attending great banquets was becoming rather common. For a bored public, eating was a rather fun pastime.
But ponies kept inventing and one day a young stallion, name now lost to time, working for the Ponpaq corporation came up with his ultimate solution to everything.
For decades the storage and distribution of information had been a problem. There was always good old-fashioned word of mouth, meeting with your fellow inventors, books, magazines, newspapers or even getting on the EqiNet and talking about it on a forum. None of these solutions however were hugely practical apart from if you consider talking about an idea.
The Ponpaq terminal was therefore, something else. It was one of the most incredible device to be invented of the first technological golden era. Essentially, each one contained the sum total of Equestrian knowledge in one handy to access terminal, all linked up to a central database. Roughly the size of a personal computer with a large hole beneath that would, if possible, create whatever the pony at the device desired with the touch of a button.
For example if, say, a pony wanted a new lamp for their bedside table at night, they’d simply look it up within the Ponpaq database and the terminal would create, almost out of thin air, the item they wanted, delivered practically instantly. For larger items it may give the pony parts, and they could then assemble them in their own home. For extremely complex items such as a car or oven, the terminal would provide a blueprint, as many of the necessary parts as possible, and instructions on where to find any remaining materials.
However these devices, amazing as they were, were extremely expensive. The stallion who made them, knowing full well what he had on his hooves, charged local governments a princely sum for each device. For those that could afford one, they often placed the device in the town hall with a waiting list for ponies to use. Rich ponies, who had to be very wealthy indeed, might have had one in their homes. Because the devices were in constant use, they often broke down, much to the frustration of the poor ponies who had been waiting for months to get some time on the device.
Being networked also meant that each device would be frequently updated with new inventions, the latest items ponies were seeing trend or such other things. Sometimes a pony would arrive with their intention to order a new clothing cabinet for their little fillies room to instead leave with the latest gadget, having to explain once they got home to their wife or husband why they needed to wait another two weeks for it. Again.
Times carried on and ponies kept inventing. But ponies weren’t just inventing useful things for their kind, and right now reader, we’re getting to about 600 years ago when it first started to take a turn for the worse. Equestria had been experiencing a golden age for their technologically advanced society. Ponies were comfy, well fed and happy. The Ponpaq terminals provided almost everything they desired. But not quite happy enough.
At that time, minor border scuffles began to break out between the micronations. Farmers wanting more land or a pony building a house over the border of another nation, little things. As the populace grew, minor skirmishes became major ones. One micronation would put a levy on another for something they did, others would put up more stringent border checks. Tensions just continued to escalate, and small militias and armed forces were established to keep the peace.
It wasn’t long before the Ponpaq devices, once used to make things for ponies to enjoy and better their lives with, were instead churning out weapons, tanks, and warplanes. Designing weaponry of exotic design now, at least between the small fighting armies, was now becoming an increasing race to see which of the terminals could produce something more devastating than their neighbours. As a final act in his dying moments, seeing the terminals now being used for evil rather than good, the inventor sent out a final network command that severed all connection all devices had to the central database and setting it to overload. Whatever terminals now remained could only produce what they were currently making or items they had previously produced.
This had an devastating effect on society, for one thing as the sum of Equestrian Knowledge was mostly placed in the terminals, even basic products to produce quickly became a chore as ponies had lost the knowledge to make these items themselves, relying on the terminals to always do it. Society began to break down. The wars got even worse as fighting intensified to try to claim terminals, quickly becoming the true prize over the origins of whatever started the fighting in the first place. Many were lost as bombs were dropped, often a commander saw a higher strategic value in making their enemies surrender once their terminal could no longer produce the weapons they used than actually spending the time and resources to capture it.
However, nothing could prepare the now bedraggled and utterly terrified civilian population for the final act. The micronation of Trottingham, under the leadership of a particularly warmongering mayor, had downloaded plans for warplanes and nuclear bombs onto their Ponpaq terminals before connections to the central database went dead, and quickly manufactured enough of each to destroy all their enemies
In one fell swoop, what the survivors called The Night Of Judgement took place. Trottingham unleashed its arsenal in a massive coordinated attack on the remaining micronations of Equestria. The night sky was lit up with cataclysmic explosions, the likes of which Equestria had never seen, utterly irradiating and permanently scarring the landscape of the world forever. In the morning, little remained except the lands of Trottingham, the overzealous commander not counting on any retaliation and sat atop his throne rather proud.
However without the remaining micronations plying theirs with resources, and with their only remaining Ponpaq terminals making weapons, their own little kingdom in just a decade turned into a wasteland itself. Most of the population starved to death, a much more painful way to go than in the nuclear fire they had brought to their neighbours and the rest of the world. The golden age of Equestria was finished, the world a wasteland of nothing but radiation and the stench of death.
For the ponies that remained in the ruined world, it was a time of terrible hardship. Massive portions of landscape irradiated, they had to try their best to rebuild from scratch—probably even less than scratch. Ponies had no knowledge anymore. Basic knowledge—agriculture, how to look after themselves and feed themselves—was just nowhere to be found. Those that dared to try to recover blueprints or information from corrupted terminals not destroyed in the war often found them corrupted, or producing something utterly useless from the last days of the fighting. A gun or a bomb is no use to a hungry pony. Of the survivors, even many of them perished.
Some however, were lucky. Even in war there are farmers still, those that manage to get fortuitous due their location or trade. Independent farms and other little pockets producing food or other items the old-fashioned way out of necessity. For the post-war world these would be the new nations that would go on to get a footing on the planet.
Over hundreds of years, slowly but surely society began to rebuild. Knowledge was regained. Lucky farms had their own Ponpaq terminals that helped the healing process. Eventually even these broke down but crucially, clever farm owners knew this was coming and made sure they were prepared. Eventually the devices that catalysed the awful end to the previous society all went offline. Ponies were back to their roots.
The radiation lessened too and plants began to reclaim the land. This meant more farming lands and, slowly but surely, a brutally war-torn world was once again fertile. For the first time in a long while, ponies were happy with their lot, the new generations having little frame of reference to the decadent society that had glistened on the landscape before theirs. It was a simple life, but ponies were happy.
Of all the things that did get passed down however, some stories were always told to keep spirits high. War stories were forgotten, mostly, apart from ones of caution not to repeat the mistakes of the past. But stories of great feasts and massive indulgent banquets were always popular. Preferring to remember the good times rather than the bad, ponies dreamed of a day where they could gorge themselves silly once again.
Now you’re all caught up dear reader, you can understand the terrible events of Equestria during this time. But life these days are rather pleasant, even if a little hard work.
And that brings us to the eve of the 534th anniversary of Judgement Night. In the first few hundred years this was a somber time to reflect, but now it has become a celebration. A celebration of what the future might hold now the past was so long ago.
Ivory Talon, a stallion working on the Rother farmstead, was packing his tools away for the night when he heard a knock behind him on the barn door. As he opened it with a smile, he saw his best friend, Sunset Eve waiting for him there.
“Tough day?” Sunset asked a little dryly.
“When isn’t it?” he replied, putting up the final shovel he had borrowed and trotting outside, locking the barn up behind him.
“Well you can relax now, until tomorrow. Remember what tonight is?”
“You know I really don’t,” Talon replied, he was tired. All he really wanted now was to flop into bed and snooze until he eventually got woken up by the cawing of a cockerel.
“Judgement Night celebration, you know the boss has something fun planned?” The young stallion gave him a little shove towards the main farm house. “Your favourite girl might be there too…”
Talon’s ears flickered slightly. Sunset Eve just smiled back at him, it was a little mischievous. He knew any mention of her would get him interested.
“Fri is gonna be there?” Ivory asked, looking at his friend with an askew glance as they started to head towards the farmhouse.
“Said she would be. It’s one of the few nights she can let her mane down too, you know. Not many ponies miss it, except you.” He laughed a little. Talon did seem to make a point to avoid social events where he could. Not that there was many to begin with.
“Well...alright fine. But if she’s not there I’m gonna make you pay.” He grumbled slightly.
The two made their way to the farmhouse. Talon could already hear music, that awful stuff that seemed to scream Yes, we run a farm! to him. It was almost comically stereotypical. As they walked in, the place was abuzz with chat and music, the ponies of the farm all under one roof for the evening.
Usually, Judgement Night was just an excuse to get drunk, listen to terrible music and eat some food from the harvest after the usual remembrance speech.
There was always the speech, given by the farm owner usually. It was the one thing from the more gloomy times that had carried over. Talon hated it with a passion: what was the point in a nice celebration to only start it off by bringing ponies down before it began?
He scanned the room and observed the small lectern near the back windows. Good spot at least as it was somewhere everypony looked. At least Sunset hadn’t lied to him and he spotted Fri sitting over by herself near the fireplace and split from his friend to join.
“Hey, Fri.”
“Evening, Talon!” she enthusiastically replied. “Wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
Fri, or Firefly River, was the only pony that would make Talon drop his tools when he saw her working in the fields. The mare was something else. Talon, for his little lot in life, at least had her company and companionship to look forward to. The mare herself had her place on the farm, tending to the animals they kept that produced things they needed.
“So uh, Sunset tells me the boss has something planned for tonight?” he asked, a little blush on his cheeks as he shuffled closer to her.
“Oh yeah, something real special. He wants to add something new to the yearly celebration. You’ll see after the speech.” She cooed slightly, wrapping a hoof around the stallions stomach.
“You know? Aw tell me, pleeeaaassse.” Talon could plead, but the mare just pressed a hoof to his lips to silence him.
“You’ll find out, after the speech,” she insisted. “Anyway here’s Prim now. Won’t be long.”
Primrose Floret was the head of Rother Farmstead. She had run it with a bit of an iron hoof for years, learning from her father whose motto was “If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile.” She wasn’t totally heartless though. She gave her workers a little more leeway than he did. She tapped on the microphone and began to speak as everyone almost instinctively went quiet and looked towards her.
“Good evening everypony. Welcome to our usual little celebration of the eve of Judgement Night. It is, as most of you know already, 534 years since our society became what it is today. I’d just like to now initiate the usual moment’s silence to remember those that were lost.”
Everypony’s heads down Talon used the moment as a quick excuse to give Fri a peck on the cheek. She just winked back at him and put a hoof on the back of his head to make him respect the moment. Quickly enough, the moment passed.
“Now that’s over I implore you all to enjoy yourselves tonight before we get back to work tomorrow, however we have one more little surprise.” She looked over at the crowd. “Ah, I see he’s here. Ivory Talon?”
The stallion got to his feet as even he knew his place on the farm. When Primrose spoke to you, you paid attention.
“Yes ma’am?”
“Ponies have been talking about you, Talon. They often praise your hard work. As head of the farm, from this year on I’m introducing a new little tradition of our own,” she said with a sly smile. “Congratulations, Ivory Talon, on being the recipient of the first annual Hard Workers prize!”
Ponies around the room put their hooves together as Talon made his way to the stage and looked a little sheepish, not noticing that Fri and Sunset had vanished from the room. “Uh, thank you ma’am. Is there a prize?” he asked. This was all new to him, especially the concept of winning something. He had never won anything in his life.
“Oh there’s a prize alright,” she said. “We’ve had a very bountiful harvest this year, as I’m sure you know. You helped harvest it after all.”
Talon did remember. He also remembered asking what was to be done with all the extra crops. He was told it would be sold off to other farms to bring in some extra money and apparently he was misinformed. Suddenly he was nervous.
Out the corner of his eye he noticed that Sunset and Fri had re-appeared and they had brought a table. No, a number of tables. They were laid out around the edge of the room various other workers on the farm were now filling them with food. Talons eyes popped out his head a little. He had never seen so many pies, fritters, cakes and other delights. They had to pile them high up on top of each other to make room.
“Is...is that what happened to the harvest?” he asked.
“Well, we made all this today. It’s been sat in storage waiting for you.” Primrose grinned at him. Before Talon could make a swift exit, Sunset and Fri grabbed him by the hooves and pinned him to the floor as he struggled to get out of their grip with no luck.
“C’mon buddy, for once in your life enjoy yourself. In this day and age what pony gets to have a real feast like this?” Sunset Eve said as he continued to hold him down, he felt the struggle relax a little as he made his point.
Talon started to think. He too remembered the stories of gluttony, almost unimaginable tales of ponies spending all day eating and stuffing their faces. Virtually nopony got to do that anymore. He had heard Primrose perhaps once or twice having a midnight snack, but those still were just hearsay on the farm. Even the stories of millennia ago seemed somewhat far-fetched.
But here he was, being given the opportunity. Would he be crazy to turn this down? Although something told him he wasn’t going to have a choice. Fri leaned in, a large slice of pie in her hooves. It was slowly making its way towards his maw.
“Just enjoy it, cutie pie. One of the first ponies in a long time to not only gorge themselves like this, but be fed,” she cooed at him. Before he could reply, he felt the large pie slide between his lips and down his maw. He chewed, softly, feeling the food make its way down his throat towards his waiting stomach. The stallion was hungry. He was always hungry after a hard day of work. Besides, he couldn’t resist Fri’s words that seemed to curl round his ears and lovingly rest on them.
“Mphhh… O-okay,” the stallion weakly replied. He decided for a little while to go with it, besides the food was tasty. They must have pulled out all the stops preparing it. It would be rude to turn it down.
Sunset leaned in with a second piece of pie. This was heaven almost. A double stuffing from the mare he loved and a good friend. Although he could occasionally see them both grabbing a piece for themselves, as well as some of the other partygoers. The pie was going down a treat. He could feel his body enjoying every tasty slice as he wolfed it down. Food this good was a rare delight.
The pie was slowly vanishing, glancing up at the table he could make out plenty of food was left. But it was hard, something was in the way and it wasn’t his friends. Was that...it was. His bulging belly was slowly rising in front of his eyes. Every little bit of food was adding more pounds. For a workhorse it was something new. Ponies these days just weren’t fat, at all. There wasn’t the opportunity for it. Something else that was a first.
The pies were amazing, every bite that Fri and Sunset were putting to his lips he greedily chewed on. The stallion was starting to enjoy himself. This was the sort of social gathering he could really embrace. His body certainly was.
Gloooorrrrrppppp!
His now pudgy belly protested a little at all the pie. He could feel a squish as it pushed forward and spread his lower hooves apart, looking for room to push its growing mass forward and fighting against gravity there was either upwards or forward for it to go. It felt rather nice.
Next thing he felt was a little pudge under his chin. The rest of his body was doing its best to compensate for his growing size too. His neck was gaining a good spare tire-like appearance as he packed on the pounds. Leaning back it wasn’t only his neck, he felt a new softness behind him as his flank was growing too. In fact his whole body was expanding around him to try to deal with all the extra fat that the food was adding to his frame.
“Having fun, blubber boy?” Fri teased him more, moving on from the pie to the fritters, Sunset feeding him the last lot of the pies. The mixture of tastes was just the best and he couldn’t fault it.
“Mmmm…” Talon simply replied, opening his mouth for the next treat.
Fri wanted something a little more before she kept feeding her stallion, putting her free hoof on that growing stomach of his. “How about a little jiggle. Would you deny your Firefly a little bit of fun?” she cooed.
With no more encouragement needed, Talon put his fat hooves round his glorping gut. Gripping it tightly, he first gave it a little squeeze as he blushed then swayed it from side to side, its impressive new size sloshing about with ease.
Slooooossshhhh!
Firefly just leaned on him a little more and wordlessly fed him a fritter, watching as that jiggly tum came to a rest. “What a fatty.” She giggled, continuing to feed her growing stallion some more well-deserved food.
Talon fully relaxed. If this was what was going to happen, he just decided to let it happen. He would have sat back but his bulging backside prevented him from doing so, the stallion now a shadow of his former slender self. He had gained a good two hundred pounds of weight and was still going.
“I think he can take a little more, you know…” Fri said to Sunset. The two of them were taking it in turns to feed Talon, one hoof at a time feeding the bulging blubbery buck a slice of fritter each.
“Oh? Something else?” Sunset said in reply. He looked at her, a little curious.
“Keep feeding him, I’ll just go get it,” Fri said, vanishing for a moment. Talon hardly noticed she had gone, gulping down more bites of fritter that Sunset was feeding him. When she returned, she brought with her a couple of bottles. Each one a lovely golden orange colour.
“We had some extra cider too. This will give him a bit of a kick.” She grinned as she sat down back next to Ivory. “Give me some room, Sunset, he can have a break from the fritters.” Pulling the cap off the first bottle she held it above an open mouth in both her hooves. It seemed Talon was really enjoying his prize now.
Tipping the bottle up, the stallion greedily chugged down the cider, the sound of his eager gulps echoing through the room. as the stallion greedily chugged down the cider from the bottle. Not only was he hungry, he was thirsty too. A drink was just what he needed right now. He may have drunk all that liquid a little too quickly though. Before he could get to the second bottle he felt his belly groan beneath him, something was building up. The gassy cider mixed with all that food was a belch bomb waiting to go off. He couldn’t hold it back.
“UUUUURRRRRRRRR-AAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP!”
The belch erupted from his lips. The rest of the guests turned and there was silence for a moment as he blushed again, however the moment quickly passed as the ponies in the room, including Primrose, cheered. A burp like that was something to be celebrated.
“See, you’re not the only one getting some benefit from this,” Fri said, giving him the second bottle with the tasty liquid inside disappearing quickly. His body now used to the delicious juice, he let forth a few less intense belches after the second bottle. His belly certainly had a good amount more sloshability after a few bottles of cider. It gurgled happily as he went back to being fed.
The celebration was in full swing, ponies helping themselves to food all around them. They were enjoying a nice bite to eat and having a nice evening. The terrible music was no longer of concern to Talon, only the food he was being fed.
The fritters were starting to run low, but some lovely fruity desserts remained. All Talon wanted to do was keep eating. His body had ballooned. He couldn’t even guess his weight. He didn’t care. He was having too much fun being pampered. He was struggling now to get his fat hooves around his belly which was sagging downward, fighting against gravity, as he tipped ever so slightly forward. His stomach sloshed in response, and he felt his body then tip back to its upright position and his rump squish behind him too. He adored how soft and plush he felt. Fri seemed to as well, giving his body a little squeeze here and there as she fed him. Sunset seemed to concentrate on his job of stuffing him full of food.
The food, however, was vanishing. Bite after bite, Talon was relishing every little bit left. Not even a crumb was going to waste as his tongue lapped down to scoop up the little bits of flotsam that were gathering on his neck. Before long, Fri was offering the final treat towards his lips. It was a small piece of shortbread. It didn’t even take a single bite for it to vanish inside of Talon.
“Bwaaarrrpppp!”
Taking note of his belch, Primrose at the lectern spoke up once more.
“Seems our prize worker is stuffed! Well done Talon. A few cheers for our prize porker!”
Having enjoyed some food and drinks, the rest of the ponies at the party gave a good number of cheers as Talon just observed himself. He couldn’t believe his size. He reckoned no pony had been this large for hundreds of years. Nopony had the chance to indulge like this in so long, and Talon had taken full advantage.
The floorboards creaked under the weight of his mass. He struggled to move. Work tomorrow would be a chore. His fat body was plush. His soft rolls felt amazing as he ran a hoof up his body, then he felt another. Fri was still with him and looking lovingly into his eyes. “Looks like I’ve got plenty more to enjoy tonight.” Her words went into his ears as he leaned in for a smooch. Talon was probably now the biggest pony Equestria had seen for a very long time and hopefully not the last.
He felt the mare take in his folds, his whole body quivering and his cheeks going redder as he was toyed with by his mare, right in the middle of the room. The moment was interrupted, however, as Primrose got on the microphone again.
“Okay you two, get him back to his room. Roll him if you have to. Sunset give them a hoof. He’s not exactly light,” the farm owner said. Up to this point, she had observed the jealousy and stares other ponies had been giving Talon as he had grown throughout the celebration. She had been toying with the idea of a public display of fattening for a long time, just never having the surplus stocks to do it. Now that the farm had grown, this little addition to the celebrations had worked nicely. She knew her farmhands would be more motivated to try to win the prize for themselves next year.
As Talon was rolled back towards his room, his mind could only think of food. Well, not just food, Fri and her hooves all over his folds occupied it somewhat. But it had been an amazing party. Despite his overwhelming size Talon resolved to win again next year. He could be just as reliable a worker, even when he was the size of a small cart…
The fires of celebration began to die down for another year. Equestria was rebuilding, slowly but surely. A pony being fed to excess for the first time in this long was a real show that things were back on track to perhaps another golden age, although that might be another hundred years away before they were as comfortable as they had been before. As long as ponykind didn’t bomb themselves to oblivion again, this time they might be able to enjoy the fruits of their labour for a little longer.